The electronics industry saw an increase in foldable phones in 2023, with 18 launched and one more expected to be released by the end of the year.
Omdia's Smartphone Display Intelligence Service shows that 16 of these cutting-edge handsets were made by Chinese manufacturers, with 13 of them adopting Chinese OLED foldable phone displays. Foldable phones' premium features, including LTPO backplane, polarizer-less technology and ultra-thin-cover-glass, are now mostly supplied by Chinese and Korean OLED manufacturers.
“Both Chinese smartphone makers and OLED manufactures can upgrade foldable phones and displays much quicker than Korean makers now,” said Joy Guo, Principal Analyst at Omdia’s Displays practice.
Currently, consumers may select from various types of foldable phone designs such as book-style, clamshell-style, and out-fold-style models– priced between USD 600 and USD 2,000. In anticipation of 2024, the industry predicts a transition towards Z-style foldable phones featuring displays that resemble tablets when unfolded.
Pioneering Manufacturers
BOE and China Star, two Chinese OLED manufactures, have emerged as major suppliers of foldable displays with advanced capabilities. Although Visionox has begun mass-producing foldable displays utilizing polarizer-less technology and LTPO backplanes, it has not implemented the shipment of ultra-thin cover glass displays yet.
In the third quarter of 2023, BOE shipped 1.3 million foldable phone displays, while China Star and Visionox each shipped close to 500,000 and 350,000, respectively. It is expected that the annual shipment of foldable displays manufactured by these Chinese OLED manufacturers will reach 8 million, with a combined shipment of approximately 3.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Omdia.
“The supply chain of foldable phones is maturing at unexpected speed. The related skills and experience are easily transferrable within the industry, and in an extremely competitive environment. These events have led to significant collective progress. Overall, this is good for consumers, but for practitioners, it is exhausting to stay on top of this fast-moving trend,” explained Guo.
Demand for foldable phone displays (excluding sub-displays) is projected to reach approximately 14.5 million in 2024, as a result of the ambitious business strategies of Chinese smartphone manufacturers. Chinese OLED manufacturers are anticipated to provide a minimum of 13 million displays to meet this demand.
